Consequences Of The Road Not Taken
by forensicsfan
Summary: GS Angst. NS Romance. This idea wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to sit down and write it so I could get back to my other project and go back on hiatus...Hope you'll give it a read.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them. As always, coffee with George would be nice.  
  
**Author's Note:** Ok, so I put myself on hiatus to work on something else, but I could not get this idea out of my head so I decided to let it spill out into my computer. As much as I love the Nick and Sara characters, I also find the Grissom character utterly fascinating and wanted to do something that explored him a bit.

* * *

Grissom wasn't sure why he had come to her door really; there was just something in the back of his mind nagging him that there was something wrong between them. Ever since he had picked her up at the police station for a near DUI a couple of months before, she had continued to distance herself from him. In retrospect, he probably hadn't helped matters any by holding her hand in the middle of her humiliation. She hadn't said a word to him the entire way to her apartment other than to tell him where to turn. That was another thing that had struck him as slightly odd. In the four years she'd worked with him in Vegas, he'd never been to her apartment until that night. He had always thought they were good friends, but then things between them over the last year had been especially strained.  
  
He descended from his vehicle, shoving his hands into his pockets before slowly and deliberately making his way up the stairs to her second floor apartment. He pulled his hand out of his pocket for a moment and raised it to knock when he heard a sound coming from inside the apartment. He paused for a moment, trying to place the noise. It was a squealing of sorts, but not the kind that would raise an alarm. He glanced at the number on the door to make sure he had the right apartment and then glanced out at the parking lot to make sure she was home. He spotted her vehicle and then turned back to the door, checking the number yet again before finally allowing his hand to rap on the door.  
  
As he waited, he heard a bit more squealing coming from inside, followed by silence and then some laughter as he heard footsteps approaching. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach an instant before the door opened.  
  
Sara's face registered surprise as she tightened the belt on her robe. "Grissom." She looked flushed and her general appearance was a bit disheveled.  
  
"Uh, did I wake you?" He immediately felt uncomfortable and wondered in the back of his mind if the reason that she'd been distant was because she'd finally moved on.  
  
"Uh, no, I." Sara looked uneasy, as if to let him into her apartment would be to let him into a part of her life that she hadn't revealed to anyone.  
  
"If this is a bad time." Grissom offered.  
  
"It's just that I, well." Sara could tell that he wanted to talk to her, but his timing couldn't have been worse.  
  
A thwacking sound followed by a loud curse word in a distinctive Texan drawl came from inside the apartment.  
  
Sara closed her eyes in resignation and let out a breath she seemed to have been holding. "You might as well come in." A faint smile played at her lips.  
  
Grissom's face registered surprise as he realized who the source of the voice was and as he stepped into Sara's apartment, he noticed Nick, wearing only a pair of boxers, sitting on her couch holding onto his toe with a sheepish grimace on his face. Grissom swallowed hard. "Nick."  
  
"Gris." Momentary panic flashed across Nick's face as he looked over at Sara. "I'm sorry. I tripped on your coffee table again."  
  
She rolled her eyes at him, and a hint of a smile flickered across her face. "I'll get the first aid kit." She headed down the hallway and disappeared into what Grissom assumed was the bathroom.  
  
An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Grissom just stood there, unsure if he should sit down or remain standing. When he'd decided to come over to Sara's that afternoon, he wasn't really sure why he was going there except that he wanted to see if she was ok. Now that he knew why she'd been distant, things seemed to slide into place, and surprisingly he found that he felt very disappointed.  
  
"So did you actually cut it open, or just stub it?" Sara returned to the living room and smirked down at Nick where he still sat on the couch holding his foot.  
  
"I should go." Grissom managed to stammer.  
  
Sara glanced over with a quizzical expression. "No, stay, this will only take a minute." She wondered what it was he wanted, but guessed that it must be important if he'd come to her apartment before shift.  
  
Grissom didn't say anything for a moment.  
  
"There's blood right there." Nick pointed at a miniscule speck of blood near his toenail.  
  
Sara couldn't contain a giggle as she sat down next to him. "You are such a baby."  
  
Nick scowled. "I am not."  
  
This just served to make Sara giggle even more as she took a Band-Aid out of the first aid kit. "Would you prefer Elmo or Power Puff Girls?" She couldn't resist teasing him.  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Very funny, don't give up your night job."  
  
Grissom felt his throat constrict a bit as he tried to swallow.  
  
"Here, let me put a little Neosporin on that." Sara kept giggling as she put a bit of the triple-antibiotic ointment on Nick's toe and then pulled out a perfectly normal looking Band-Aid.  
  
Nick furrowed his brow. "Don't you have any of those flexible fabric ones?"  
  
Sara giggled and rolled her eyes as she put the Band-Aid on his toe. "You really are a baby."  
  
He grinned at her reaching over and touching her nose. "And you love it."  
  
A hint of color infused her cheeks as she tried to restrain her smile, glancing up at Grissom. "What was it that you needed, Gris?"  
  
Grissom had taken in the interaction between his two CSIs and for a moment was a little speechless.  
  
Sara looked at Grissom quizzically. "Uh, Gris, are you ok?"  
  
Her voice snapped him out of his reverie and he finally found his words. "Uh, I'm fine. I'll just talk to you at the lab." He moved towards the door.  
  
"Grissom." Sara stood up and followed him to the door, glancing back at Nick with a bewildered expression.  
  
The nightshift supervisor turned and looked at her with as neutral of an expression as he could muster. "I'm sorry I interrupted. I should have called first."  
  
Sara glanced at Nick who nodded back at her before she turned to Grissom again. "Uh, this wasn't exactly how we intended to tell everyone."  
  
As her words began to sink in, Grissom realized that the pair wasn't just having a fling. "Tell everyone?"  
  
Sara smiled and looked over at Nick again as he stood up and walked gingerly towards them, careful to keep his big toe from hitting the floor. She reached out and took Nick's hand before looking at Grissom again. "Nick and I have been dating for a while."  
  
The word 'dating' slowly penetrated Grissom's brain. Somewhere in the back of his mind he reasoned that dating wasn't permanent, that maybe things between them wouldn't work out and maybe then he'd be ready to take a chance.  
  
Nick's voice reflected the smile on his face. "I asked Sara to marry me."  
  
Grissom tried to control the widening of his eyes as he saw the smile on Sara's face turn into a grin as Nick slid his arms around her waist from behind and plant a kiss on her cheek.  
  
She glanced at Nick with a loving expression before holding up her left hand so Grissom could see the diamond engagement ring that adorned her finger. "And I said yes."  
  
"Congratulations." Grissom wasn't sure where the sincerity in his tone had come from. He felt as if he'd been hit in the gut, but his outward demeanor didn't betray his inner turmoil.  
  
"Thanks." Sara furrowed her brow for a moment as her grin gave way to a thoughtful expression. "Grissom, you stopped by for something. What did you need?"  
  
He looked at Nick, who he was sure could tell how conflicted he was inside before he looked at Sara again. "It can wait. I'll just talk with you back at the lab. I'm sorry I intruded." He was surprised at how in control his voice sounded.  
  
Sara seemed a little confused by Grissom's behavior, but she didn't question him further. She simply smiled at him as he reached for the door. "Ok, I'll stop by your office before shift."  
  
Grissom nodded and then opened the door and stepped out, not looking back as he heard it close behind him. He heard a squeal through the door and with that his heart fell, feeling as if it had shattered into a million pieces.  
  
Sara had been right that night she'd asked him to dinner. By the time he had figured it out it really was too late.  
  
Finis 


End file.
